Typical model design to measure aerodynamic coefficients in the presence of supersonic plume

Abstract

A typical model design was carried out to study the effect of plume–freestream interaction on aerodynamic coefficients. Towards this, a blunt-cone-cylinder-flare model was designed and fabricated. A strain gauge balance was accommodated to measure forces and moments due to plume–freestream interaction. The criticality of the model design such as isolation of metric–non-metric parts and elimination of jet reaction force were addressed in this paper. A finite element analysis was carried out to ensure proper isolation of metric and non-metric parts. The results showed that the maximum deflection of the model under aerodynamic loads is 0.41 mm, whereas the clearance between the metric and non-metric parts is 1.35 mm. Also, the experiments under plume alone condition revealed that the aerodynamic coefficients (C_N, C_m and C_A) have negligible values of the order of 0.003, 0.008 and 0.009, respectively, which ascertain the isolation of metric–non-metric parts and jet reaction force. The numerical and experimental results showed that the model design is in order. Also, typical experiments were carried out at α = 4° to study the plume–freestream interaction and the results show that as the jet pressure ratio (P_j/P_inf) increases, loss in C_N, C_m and C_A is observed.

Keywords

Force measurement supersonic plume hypersonic wind tunnel jet interaction

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